If only for this life we have hope

Rev. Chris Willis 

There are two key verses in this morning’s reading from 1 Corinthians. They follow one after the other. The first is this: If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all Men/people.

Here’s the rub: and I’m going to be frank with you. If Jesus Christ, is not the Son of God, if Jesus has not been raised from the dead, the most logical thing you can do right now, is pick up your coat, walk out the door, and live life for the moment…

There is a second logical response: That is to conclude, that Jesus has not been raised from the dead. But he was a good man, his teachings were an example to us all, and it’s good to live life the way he encouraged us to. So, coming to church is part of that. 

There is however a third response. That Jesus is in fact God. That he was resurrected from the dead. It's only in this response that we too can have hope of not just this for this often difficult life, but much, much more, for an eternity with him.

When you look at life, look at faith, these are really the only logical responses to Jesus Christ. 

On the Alpha Course this week Nicky Gumbel put it this way: there are only really three logical choices [When asking who is Jesus]: either he was a fraud; or he was deluded, or the only other possible logical option, he is in fact the Son of God. 

If Jesus is the Son of God, then that is a game-changer. If he is the Son of God, then what he says suddenly becomes a game-changer. 

This is what Paul is talking about. When he says, ‘if only for this life we have hope, we are to be pitied more than all people’, he wasn’t joking. 

Paul tells us. If Jesus isn’t who he says he is, then he, Paul, and the other disciples are false witnesses. But one of the most significant facts that support the genuineness of Jesus own claims of who he is, is the fact that so many of those who knew him physically, who ate and walked and talked with him, who were there on that wonderful day when he preached the sermon on the mount that we heard read this morning, who saw the miracles, who were terrified to see his earthly form walking towards them on water - thinking he was a ghost; who saw him calm the storm, heal the blind, raise Lazarus from the dead. Who, in the case of John, saw him die on the Cross, and who like Mary met him in the Garden, resurrected from the dead: is that they were then willing, without exception, to be persecuted, and for many, imprisoned, tortured and to give their own lives for the sake of his name. 

I don’t know about you, but I for one would not be willing to die for a con man. This is one of the most extraordinary and most powerful reasons why we should today believe Jesus claim that he is the Son of God. That he is alive.

For those of you who did Alpha, you will recognise that I am pinching a whole load of stuff from the course. Unashamedly.

Now, the natural cynics amongst us, and I count myself as one of them, might well be thinking, but haven’t we seen this happen in living memory: some charismatic character gathers a whole load of people around him, and they are willing to die as the authorities storm the compound they have taken refuge in.  

But the disciples weren’t brainwashed. They weren’t shielded away from the rest of the world. They were real people like you and me. When the Guards came to arrest Jesus, they ran. When Peter was challenged by the servant girl in the temple court yards, he lied. Andrew and John went back to fishing wondering if it was all over.

These people were not brain washed. 

So, what made the difference? Not a charismatic guru in a ranch restricting his converts from having contact from family & friends. No, what made the difference? what was it that ultimately took this ordinary bunch of men and women and inspired them to spend the rest of their lives telling the known world about Jesus? 

The answer if found in the second of these key verses: ‘But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep/died’

What made the difference. What made this mixed bunch of very ordinary people extraordinary in their response, was the extraordinary event which followed the arrest and brutal crucifixion of their leader: His resurrection from the dead. 

Only the truth and authenticity of this event makes sense in the events which are to follow. 

So, we need not run for the door, whether from this building or metaphorically from the door of faith (if you are watching at home). Nor is it necessary to dwell in the middle ground, finding in some way only comfort in the tradition, a sense of moral code to live by, which attending church may offer, yet not stepping into the fulness of that faith.  

No what we have before us this morning is so, so, much more. “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep/died’

I want to throw in an aside here, a small detour off-piste. There is arguably a fourth response to Jesus. We might say, I know Jesus is the Son of God. I just don’t want to follow him. Because I know, if I let Jesus in, my life might change; and I don’t want my life to change.

If this fourth response is the one that most reflects you. I guess these thoughts probably go with it: That God is somehow the cosmic spoil sport, who will stop me from enjoying life to the full; and I want to be in control of my life. No one else is going to tell me how to live.

Is that’s where you’re at? Can I leave you with one thought? One challenge. And come back at me on this. I’m confident, that you won’t find a single word in the Bible which might affect the way you live, laws, commands or instructions, which aren’t ultimately for your own or another’s good; or to prevent harm to you or another. God is no cosmic spoil sport. God is love. Not a spoilsport. He disciplines us as only a loving Father. And only says ‘do not’ if the doing is harmful. 

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep/died’

There remains the good response. The logical choice. The good place to be. 

It is logical to believe in Jesus. To accept who he says he is.

It is the best way to live. The most fulfilling life to live as he shows us. As the Bible teaches us.

And even if that is not enough…joy of joy. Hope of hopes. Because Jesus has risen from the dead. We too share in that hope to come. We too are not to be pitied; but far from it, are instead in the envious position of destiny and eternity with Jesus.

Amen